In the assembly of aircraft, it is common to attach a skin panel to a spar substructure near the edge of the skin panel. Typically, mating skin panels will be secured to the spar substructure at the seam between the panels.
In the past, the skin panels have been positioned in jigs on the spar substructure and holes drilled by hand at the seams to attached the skin panels to the spar substructure. Each hole must be drilled and then countersunk.
This is a time-consuming and expensive process. It is particularly complicated when the materials being drilled are in alignment fixtures and access is limited. A need therefore exists for an improved device and technique for drilling and countersinking these holes which improves the efficiency of the operation.